Parking fine changes in Ryedale (From Gazette & Herald)

Parking fine changes in Ryedale

9:10am Monday 3rd September 2012 in News

COUNCIL staff could start issuing fines to motorists under changes being considered to the way parking rules are enforced in Ryedale.

Councillors in Ryedale are set to approve taking control of the enforcement of parking rules in the district this week.

North Yorkshire County Council agreed last year to introduce civil parking enforcement across the region after police warned that it was becoming “increasingly difficult” for them to deploy enough officers to tackle the problem.

A report which will go before a full meeting of Ryedale District Council this week said the new arrangements were likely to be more costly than the authority’s current operation, but officers have recommended backing the scheme after the county council agreed to cover any additional costs or loss of income for the next three years.

It is not yet clear whether this subsidy would continue after that time and the report said this could create “a future financial risk”.

Under the system, council staff would issue parking fines.

Officers said that not agreeing to adopt the changes could mean police enforcement of parking laws being stopped or reduced, leading to an increase in offences.

They also said a single enforcement scheme for Ryedale would be too expensive.